Climate & Energy Program

The Australia Institute’s new Climate and Energy Program has released the Electricity Update of the National Energy Emissions Audit (The Audit*) for September 2017, authored by renowned energy expert Dr Hugh Saddler.

The September Electricity Update includes a special analysis of the peak demand events in February 2017 which shows that in addition to coal plants, including Liddell, failing, two out of three of the largest gas generators, Tallawarra and Colongra, dropped out at the most important times for NSW peak load.

The first major report from The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program evaluates the energy policies required to meet Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets set by the Abbott government and pledged at the international climate summit in Paris.

The Climate & Energy Program was launched following the transfer of the Climate Institute’s intellectual property to The Australia Institute.

The analysis of the government-commissioned modelling finds that, to meet its Paris commitment, Australia faces a choice:

The first major report from The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program evaluates the energy policies required to meet Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets set by the Abbott government and pledged at the international climate summit in Paris.

The Climate & Energy Program was launched following the transfer of the Climate Institute’s intellectual property to The Australia Institute.

The analysis of the government-commissioned modelling finds that, to meet its Paris commitment, Australia faces a choice:

A new ReachTEL poll, commissioned by The Australia Institute’s Climate and Energy Program, asked residents of the electorates of Hunter and Shortland about energy policy, including government investment in coal, renewables and the Liddell coal power station.

Strong majorities in the coal electorates (61% and 57%) preferred government investment in renewables than in coal (32% and 36%).

Question: Which would you prefer the government to invest in, coal or renewables?

Around the world, governments are recognising the benefits of wide-scale electric vehicle use and are supporting their uptake through policy.

Thanks to its compact geography, Tasmania would encourage people to purchase electric vehicles by providing even just a handful of public vehicle charging stations. This paper explores two options for providing coverage to a large part or most of the state, with three or six charging stations. These options cover the most travelled routes and the most popular tourism areas. They could be built for approximately $1 million or $2 million respectively.

When the Climate Institute has closed its doors, The Australia Institute was honoured to be selected to carry forward some of The Institute’s work as part of our new Climate & Energy Program.

One of the important initiatives being carried forward under The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program is the Climate of the Nation report on attitudes to climate change, released annually by the Climate Institute.

The McArthur River zinc-lead mine in the Northern Territory imposes significant environmental costs on the local community. Claims that it could produce government revenue of over $1.5 billion are based on flawed economic modelling that estimates tax revenues over a 1,000 year period.

When the Prime Minister is forced to spend his own political capital fixing the mistakes of the former head of Origin Energy, is it any wonder the Coalition is ignoring that same man's policy advice now that he heads up the Business Council of Australia?

[This op ed was first published in the Australian Financial Review - here]

The Australia Institute is the country’s most influential progressive think tank. We conduct research on a broad range of economic, social and environmental issues in order to inform public debate and bring greater accountability to the democratic process.